Giving without poetry

“A wife is her husband’s richest treasure, a helpmate, a steadying column.” -Sirach 36:24

“A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones; a gift from the Lord is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth. Choicest of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste person. Like the sun rising in the Lord’s heavens, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home. Like the light which shines above the holy lampstand, are her beauty of face and graceful figure. Golden columns on silver bases are her shapely limbs and steady feet.” -Sirach 26:13-18

I want to be a treasure to my husband.

And truth be told, one of the greatest desires of my heart is that he treasure me.

After all, “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” (My favorite line from Notting Hill, of course!:)

But in the end, if the Lord calls me to Heaven tomorrow, I want to stand before Him and be able to say that I didn’t wait to feel like my husband treasured me before I acted like a treasure.

I think a lot of women struggle sometimes with the need to feel loved and treasured by their husbands. Feeling that connection is so important to us women. But the fact is that no marriage–and no husband–can make us feel treasured and appreciated 100 percent of the time. Truth be told, sometimes our husbands do need to work on expressing love and appreciation to us. But I think we are called to learn how to give of ourselves in marriage without requiring thank yous, applause or poetry in return.

I am married to a good man. I think a lot of us are married to good men. And we certainly have a good and incredibly generous God, a God we can never out-give. Between the love of my life and the Lord of Life, I feel like I can’t go wrong in reminding myself daily to “not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest.” (Galatians 6:9).

While I’m definitely not perfect, I’m going to keep striving to be a blessing to Michael every day. To be kind to him. To make myself reign in my emotions as best I can. To support him. To inspire him to goodness. Even when we disagree. Even when he’s in the wrong. Especially when I’m in the wrong.